Covid 19 coronavirus Delta outbreak: Praise for Whanganui business community calm through lockdown

Whanganui & Partners chairman Pahia Turia said the local business community had demonstrated a calm and considered response to the latest lockdown. Photo / NZME

Whanganui & Partners chairman Pahia Turia says local businesses were better prepared for a Covid-19 lockdown this time round.

"Although the level 4 announcement came as a surprise, we were better prepared," he said.

"We've all benefited from having been through this before."

Turia and acting Whanganui & Partners chief executive Jonathan Sykes presented the agency's quarterly report to a Whanganui District Council meeting this week and Turia said they had observed a "calm and considered" response from the local business community.

Sykes said Whanganui & Partners had supported employers in accessing Government support including the Wage Subsidy and Resurgence Support Payments.

"They have been key tools that we have been helping to amplify and get across to local businesses," he said.

Whanganui & Partners had also seen an increased uptake in local businesses using Digital Boost, a programme providing tools for businesses to improve their presence and performance online.

The agency's report said 63.8 per cent of the Whanganui workforce was able to remain operational under level 4 and that rose to 84.3 per cent at level 3.

Consumer spending for the week ending August 29 was down by 35.9 per cent for the same week last year although it was noted that Whanganui was at alert level 2 in August 2020.

Whanganui businesses that were fully operational at alert level 4 experienced some challenges in remaining fully staffed as there was a 100 per cent wellness requirement for essential workers.

There were 1635 people in Whanganui receiving jobseeker benefits in July which was a 14 per cent drop from the total in July 2020.

The report anticipated that the latest lockdown was likely to limit hiring and lead to possible job losses; however, the labour market was expected to bounce back as the level of spending increased with the lowering of alert levels.